Towyn man donates kidney to son, eight

Feb 25 2010 by Kelly Barker, North Wales Weekly News

I gave my kidney to save Jack’s life

A DAD gave the gift of life to his eight-year-old son by donating his own kidney.

Brian Wilson, 42, and his youngest son Jack are recovering at home after their transplant operations.

Without having the operation, Jack, from Towyn near Abergele, would have faced a debilitating lifetime of dialysis treatment.

But now the Ysgol Maes Owen pupil can look forward to a brighter future, thanks to his doting dad.

Relieved mum Andrea, 43, says the family first found out Jack had a potentially life-threatening kidney disease after he suffered what they thought was a head cold.

She said: “He’s full of the joys of spring now, he gets up in the morning bright and bubbly and the difference is incredible. He can keep his food down and isn’t sick any more.”

Husband Brian is uncomfortable with being called a hero for undergoing the life-saving surgery. He believes it was what any dad would have done.

Three weeks after being released from hospital, he is recovering at home and not in as much pain as he’d expected.

Jack wasn’t worried about the operation and got through a string of CT scans, blood tests and kidney examinations with little complaint.

His mum said: “He was great. He has been all along. You could see a small lump on the side of his back where the kidney is and he was showing it to everyone saying ‘That’s my kidney’.”

But the path to recovery has been a long one. In 2008, Jack was diagnosed with a rare kind of kidney failure.

The discovery came after his mum and dad took him to the doctor because the cold he had wasn’t shifting.

Soon after, Jack’s energy levels slumped and he was regularly sick.

Before the transplant, he was left with just 10% of one kidney functioning properly, meaning the budding striker with Abergele Rangers Junior team couldn’t play his beloved football at all.

Andrea said: “You don’t realise how hard it’s been or how ill he was. You just get by on four weekly cycles of tests at hospitals. People ask how we coped and the answer is you just do.”

The dad-of-three added: “We’ve been to and from Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool and Manchester Children’s Hospital all year.”

Andrea said her son was itching to get back to school but would have to wait until consultants at Alder Hey Hospital gave him the go ahead, which could be a two- to three-month wait while they get the right level of immuno-suppressant drugs which will allow Jack’s body to accept the new kidney.

But his parents are delighted he is now playing more like a normal eight-year-old boy.